lt is one of the most haunting photos in the Edmonton Journal archives: a picture of Thomas Svekla, dressed in a green camouflage jacket and tinted round sunglasses, smiling tauntingly at the camera, his finger held to his lips. “Shhhh,” he seems to be saying. “I’ve got a secret.”

EDMONTON — See tomorrow’s stars today. It’s a slogan minor league baseball often uses to promote its teams, but it’s also appropriate for the 15th annual Optimist U18 international curling championships, which run from Wednesday through Sunday at the Jasper Place Curling Club and the Saville Community Sports Centre.

Based on experience alone, the Canadian senior women’s curling championship final at the Thistle Curling Club was a mismatch. Nova Scotia’s Colleen Jones is a six-time Canadian and two-time women’s world champion while Alberta’s Terri Loblaw was playing in her first national curling championship of any kind.

So far, so good for Hinton’s Glen Hansen in the Everest Canadian senior curling championships at the Thistle Curling Club.The Alberta rink posted a 5-1 record in the preliminary round robin, then won its first game in the eight-team championship pool on Wednesday. “We’re happy with how it’s gone,” said Hansen, who is playing with Edmonton-area players Doug McLennan, George Parsons and Don Bartlett. “We definitely had a few close games, but we’re just trying to do our thing and see where it gets us.

Colleen Jones has always played with family, even if her teammates weren’t always related. The Canadian Curling Hall of Fame player started her competitive career with sisters Monica and Barbara more than 35 years ago. While the surnames are different on Jones’ current Nova Scotia team, which has outscored opponents 51-14 while winning its first five games in the Everest Canadian senior curling championships at the Thistle Curling Club, the players share a tight bond.

The Iceman has been melting at the Everest Canadian senior curling championships at the Thistle Curling Club. Northern Ontario’s Al Hackner lost his first three games in the preliminary round-robin of the 14-team senior men’s competition and is in danger of being eliminated from the championship pool, which starts Wednesday.

EDMONTON — Either Glen Hansen is getting better with age or he’s not losing his skills as fast as everyone else around him. At the age of 52, Hansen has accomplished something he could only dream of before. He will compete in his second national curling event in less than six months when the Everest Canadian senior championships start Saturday at the Thistle Curling Club.

SAPPORO, Japan — Canada’s Jennifer Jones picked up two more victories Tuesday to remain tied for first place at the women’s world curling championship. The Winnipeg skip crushed Aileen Sormunen of the United States 10-2 in the early draw before […]

It’s not exactly the way Amanda and Garry Coderre pictured it, but their dream of representing Canada together eventually came true. The father-daughter pairing helped the Saville Centre’s Kelsey Rocque become only the second skip to win back-to-back world junior women’s curling championships last week at Tallinn, Estonia.

CALGARY — The first team to wear the Maple Leaf at the Canadian men’s curling championship can wear it again next year. Pat Simmons, John Morris, Carter Rycroft and Nolan Thiessen upset Northern Ontario’s Brad Jacobs 6-5 in an extra […]

Brad Jacobs has developed a carefully cultivated work-site persona. He is curling’s king of cool. A Carlos the Jackal-type of skip. Studied. Steely-eyed. Implacable. The strictly-business, emotionless assassin. He saves any overt demonstrations only for only the touchstone moments. Well, Friday’s fifth end provided such a moment. Needing a soft tap-back and roll for a […]